No blood transfusions for this vampire movie.

Here’s how Luc Besson’s version of “Dracula” begins. When a 15th century prince throws his sword to save his wife, he pierces both the assassin and her. When he blames the priest for not praying to God hard enough, he murders him and renounces his faith-thus making the Jesus Christ statue tear blood and the prince transforming into Dracula.

Here’s how it continues 400 years later in Paris at the brink of the French Revolution. Dracula is looking for a woman to resemble and reincarnate his dead wife. To do that, he has to wear a magic perfume that makes women attracted to him faster than they would be attracted to Timothee Chalamet today. And when he does meet his wife’s lookalike, it basically becomes like a beach party romcom when they play carnival games.

And here’s how I would react to this movie. It has some impressive set designs and a fresh score by Danny Elfman, but think back to Robert Egger’s take on “Noserfatu,” and you’ll acknowledge that film was more invested and committed to vampires, pandemics, and possessed women than this movie is. In fact, it almost seems like it’s trying to lampoon the gothic vampire genre.

“Dracula” was going to have a subtitle “A Love Tale,” but it lost that when it was overselling it in the promotions, went through marketing strategies in different countries, and wanted to keep the title vampire as a brand name. Bram Stoker’s story has been transitioning in many forms of entertainment, and I guess just calling the movie “Dracula” would help honor that. It still focuses on the romantic POV of it, but here it has to act like some kind of bad sex comedy or a corny supernatural romance.

Caleb Landry Jones reunites with the director from “Dogman” as Dracula, who looks like a bratty version of the actor in the past, but centuries later, his older self is disguised by make-up and white hair. Because he renounced his faith, he can’t die, and he envies those who can, and not all Draculas can get killed by the sun. When he meets the solicitor Jonathan Harker (Ewan Abid), he discovers that the woman he is marrying-Mina (Zoe Bleu)-is the person who can reincarnate his wife Elisabeta (also Bleu). He asks the young man what his last wish is, and he says he wants to hear his story.

Christoph Waltz, who was just in a much better and more remarkable monster movie “Frankenstein,” plays a Van Helsing priest, who examines Maria (Matilda De Angelis), a female vampire patient under Dracula’s powers. And he eventually must assemble a team to help him end the vampire’s reign of terror.

Elfman is a composer who knows how to shift in tones-the drama of the prince losing his love, the attacks, the elaborate parties he attends, and the final battle. So, his score is the best thing about “Dracula,” but a soundtrack can be transitioned from one crappy film to the next better film.

Besson is a filmmaker who has made some good movies like “The Fifth Element” and “Lucy,” but some of his latest films (“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” and “Dogman”) seem to be made out of indulgence. There is creativity, but it ends up getting diminished by corny dialogue and overblown scenes. Underneath the nice production designs, are supporting characters trying to make faces to make the film appealing, and Dracula’s gargoyle servants with bad CGI effects. In fact, they might as well be singing “A Guy Like You.”

Guillermo Del Toro has directed a brilliant vision of “Frankenstein” and it’s now streaming on Netflix and in a few theaters with special formats. Again, Eggers’ take on “Nosferatu,” which is now on Blu-Ray and VOD, resonates with the past and present in a sense. Besson’s take on “Dracula” is coming to theaters, but somebody should have driven a stake into this vampire’s heart a long time ago.